You're pretty much dead on there muzzy . It is indeed a simple rest once you spend the time to sort it out [8D].
As for silencing the launcher arms, I've tried almost everything I can think off, some burn thru faster than others.
However I've found that the Gibbs (GAG) Super Slick prong rest silencers work for quite a long time (and I shoot my bows on a daily basis). They really work very well indeed!
The down side to using them however is, itwill raise your arrow a little 'higher' from the shelf, thus taking it closer to the top of the berger hole. Nevertheless I have not found this to be a problem. The main reason for keeping the arrow closer to the shelf is to reduce the amount of left & right gaps from the target, (torque). Once you can control your torque, getting in the center of the berger is not absolutely necessary.